


Tristan's Bad Idea

by Ceara Corey (kirylin)



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: F/M, Love Potion/Spell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-10-07
Updated: 2007-10-28
Packaged: 2018-01-09 07:32:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1143234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kirylin/pseuds/Ceara%20Corey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I'm no good at titles, but the story was fun to write! Tristan wants to date Joey's sister, but Joey will only let it happen if Serenity asks out Tristan. Tristan goes a little too far in trying to make that happen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back after a very long break filled with a lot of non-fanfic writing. Anyone miss me? (I doubt anyone remembers me, actually. Heh.)
> 
> Um...notes... Well, it's probably not obvious, but I'm one of roughly five Tristan-Serenity fans in the known universe. I make no apologies for this because the two are far too cute together in the virtual world (otherwise known as one of two-three sections of the series that did not actually take place in the manga).
> 
> Oh, and I apologize now for how Yugi ended up getting used. I didn't mean to make him the straight man, but I also didn't want to leave him out. So...this is what happened. Sorry.

Tristan Taylor carefully scanned the group of first-years invading the lunch room, hoping for a glimpse of long auburn hair. This was his favorite part of the day, and had been ever since Serenity Wheeler started attending his school.

 _Our school_ , he reminded himself as his best friends sat down. Yugi greeted him with only a nod while Joey ranted on about something. He was so riled up that Tristan couldn't make out what he was saying. Not that it mattered. His eyes were already searching again.

"Tristan, you better not be doin' what I think you're doin'!" Joey snarled.

 _Oops! Busted!_ "Nah, man! I'm just keeping an eye out for Teá."

"But Teá has dance practice," Yugi sipped his milk absently, unaware of the problem he had just caused.

"Tristan!" Joey roared, "I absolutely forbid you to date my sister."

The brunette would have reacted, but it was pointless. The most he'd managed was to give her his phone number, right after Duke Devlin had done the same.

"What if she asks him?" And in that quiet question, the champion duelist nearly soothed the temper he'd accidentally ignited.

Joey sat down, more smug now than angry, "If, by some miracle, Serenity was to ask you out, then I _might_ let you date her. But she doesn't seem to be all that interested in guys yet, so I got no worries."

"And isn't your sister on a field trip anyway?" Yugi asked between bites of sandwich.

Tristan slowly sank under the table.

* * *

The next day, Tristan waited near Serenity's class. When the bell rang, she walked out with her friends.

"Hey, Serenity," he'd hoped to catch her alone, walk with her to lunch.

"Hi, Tristan!" She sent her friends on ahead. "What are you doing here?"

He scratched the back of his head. "Um, I needed to catch up with something." She smiled, and he let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding. "So, the aquarium is opening their new beach exhibit this weekend."

Amber eyes lit up. "Oh, that would be the perfect place to drag Joey!"

"Joey?" Tristan's voice caught in his throat.

"I've wanted to ask him to hang out with me, give him a break from Duel Monsters for a day. This will be perfect! Thanks so much for letting me know, Tristan."

"No problem." Tristan watched, dumbfounded, as Serenity ran toward the lunchroom. He wondered what Plan B was.

* * *

A couple of days later, as the group splintered to various activities, Tristan casually approached Serenity.

"What are your plans for the afternoon, Serenity?"

"Mokuba has invited me to check out a new attraction at Kaibaland."

He fought back a growl. Serenity and Mokuba had built a strong friendship around being the younger sibling of an utter bonehead. He couldn't begrudge her that, no matter how much he wanted to date her. Besides, he realized, he wouldn't be much of a friend if he tried to keep her from hanging out with her friends anyway.

"That sounds like fun. Bring me back a souvenir."

"I will. See you later, Tristan." He waved as she rushed off toward a KaibaCorp limo.

Tristan dropped onto a nearby bench. "Great! Now I'm jealous of Mokuba. This is stupid."

Not too far down the sidewalk, a familiar teen waved to him. "Tristan, we're headed to the game shop. Want to come?"

A chance to spend time with his own friends was better than wallowing in his own lameness. A carefully placed smile on his face, Tristan ran to catch up with Yugi.

* * *

November pushed on at a fast pace, and Serenity's birthday was rapidly approaching. Tristan had become so focused on seeing how many different ways he could get her to not ask him out that it nearly slipped his mind.

Now he wandered the streets of Domino trying to find the perfect gift for the girl of his dreams. He stopped in every boutique and gift shop in the shopping district before he decided he really wanted to get her a book. Ever since her eye operation, Serenity had become a voracious reader. It was perfect.

As he headed out of the shopping district, he noticed a side road he'd never seen before. Curious, he followed it to a weathered door near the end. The sign was worn out, but Tristan could make out the word "books".

"I guess it couldn't hurt." He forced the door open and stepped inside. Bells jingled over his head. His eyes slowly adjusted to the low light and he heard a shuffling approaching him.

"Oh, it's just you." Tristan's eyes had focused enough to make out a man not much bigger than Yugi. The man, whose short black hair looked wilder than the spiky-haired duelist's, slowly looked Tristan over. He'd never felt so violated by a single glance.

Finally the man nodded, a gleam in his eye, "You want the back wall."

Tristan looked over his head. The store was fairly dusty, even in the dim lighting, but the back of the store looked particularly foreboding.

The books at the back of the shop were less dusty, a sign of the customers the old man truly served. Titles jumped off the shelf. " _Green Witchcraft. The Tarot and You. Ancient Egyptian Rituals._ What are these?" Convinced he'd been sent back as a joke, Tristan turned to leave.

Another title caught his attention, and he thumbed through it. "I don't know how lonely my heart is, but- Wait!" A recipe made him stop and smile. "This could work. _Potions for a Lonely Heart_ , you are coming with me!"

The old man smiled knowingly as Tristan walked out.

* * *

Two days before Serenity's birthday, Tristan holed himself up in his room. The space was dark except for the only candle he could find, a floral-scented votive that reminded him of his grandmother. The light was barely enough to allow him to read the "recipe".

On the floor in front of him sat a clear glass bowl and several measuring devices scattered among the herbs and bottles. "I hope this works." Deliberately, he pulverized a couple of the herbs into a fine powder, stopping occasionally to add another herb to the blend. Finally, he added rose water to his powdered mix and watched as the herbs slowly swirled in the foul-smelling concoction.

He poured the brew into an empty water bottle and left it on his windowsill.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a little too much fun with this chapter. If you find it and don't find it as funny to read as I found it to write, I'm sorry.
> 
> Storywise, poor Tristan is really having to wrestle with his conscience here. Should he go through with his plan, or should he just drop it?

After school, Joey and Yugi headed for the arcade, dragging a reluctant Tristan along with them.

"Hey, Tristan, let's go play that fighting game!"

"Which game, Joey?"

"You know...that turtle one! I'll play the one that says all the cheesy lines, and you can be the one that tries to act all tough!" Joey nearly fell over as he tried to strike a fighting pose.

"Well, at least Joey would be acting like himself," Teá whispered, evoking a quiet chuckle from Yugi.

"Come on, man."

"Hey, isn't that Serenity?" Yugi interrupted Joey's begging. Everyone followed the small duelist's finger to a group of girls gathered at the snack bar.

Serenity looked up, momentarily startled, and then smiled and waved at them. Nearly everyone waved back at her. Tristan sunk his hands deep in his pockets and stared at his shoes. I can't do this to her.

"I forgot this is where her girlfriends were taking her for her birthday," Joey chuckled, his cheeks slightly flushed.

"Today is Serenity's birthday?" Yugi and Teá asked.

"It's tomorrow," Tristan responded, cutting off Joey. The blond glared and Tristan flinched.

"What are you doing for her birthday, Joey?" Tristan let out a small sigh of relief as Yugi sought to distract the excitable duelist.

The blond's face softened slightly, "She wants to go to this exhibit at the aquarium, so I thought I'd take her." His face quickly reddened again. "Great! What's that guy doing here?"

Duke Devlin had appeared at the girls' table and was chatting with them, his eyes rarely leaving Serenity.

With a "Duke!", Joey stormed into the snack bar.

"I'm betting he's going to be distracted for a while," Yugi shrugged.

"Just as long as he doesn't get himself into trouble," Teá agreed. "Want to help me shop for Serenity's birthday present, Yugi?"

"Sure, Teá!"

She waved to Tristan, "We'll see you later."

Tristan's eyes were still fixed on Duke as Joey chased him away from Serenity and her friends. She was clearly miffed at her brother. He knew she'd be upset with him, too, if he actually went through with his plan. But...he couldn't get her to notice him at the rate he was going.

Finally, he made a decision, and headed for home.

* * *

The liquid had become a clear amber, only a shade or so lighter than Serenity's eyes. Tristan swirled it a couple of times before heading to the kitchen.

This time he had a glass bowl in front of him, and he carefully dumped a packet of brown powder into it, followed quickly by a pair of cracked eggs and his brew. For several moments, the brew's stench threatened to overwhelm him, but soon the batter started to smell like chocolate.

Before long, the mixture was poured into a pan and thrown into the oven. Tristan carefully cleaned everything.

* * *

He caught up with Serenity the next day on her way to lunch. "Here, I baked these brownies for you," he offered her the plate.

She smiled and took one, "Thanks, Tristan! They look great!"

"Happy birthday, Serenity!" he beamed.

Her smile lingered a moment longer, and then she nearly dropped the brownie, "Oh my god. Thanks for reminding me, Tristan." She quickly ripped out a page from her notebook and wrapped the brownie before dropping it into her bookbag. "Mai is taking me out for lunch!"

He was momentarily stunned, but managed to gather his wits before she got out of sight, "Serenity!"

She skidded to a stop, "Oh, I'll get the rest of the brownies from you after school."

"Okay, but... Just don't eat that one until then, okay?" Her wary gaze only made him more nervous. "Ah..." _Come on, brain. Don't let me down._ "I want to see your reaction!" Mentally, he smacked himself.

"I'm sure it'll be fine," she called back.

"Just...please, Serenity," he begged.

"Fine. If it means that much to you, I'll save it for this afternoon." With one last wave, she disappeared.

Tristan sagged against the wall, "That did not go as planned."

* * *

The bell rang, and Tristan dashed to Serenity's locker. He took several deep breaths trying to steady himself; the last thing he wanted was to trigger any more suspicious glances.  
Minutes ticked by like hours while he waited for her to show up.

What if she went home already? His head connected solidly with her locker. This really was a bad idea. He checked his watch, trying to decide whether or not to give up. If I'm lucky, she'll throw out that brownie and I can try this again tomorrow.

He looked up the hall one last time, just in time to see her come around the corner. His hope renewed, he pushed off her locker.

Tristan missed the unusual sparkle in Serenity's eyes and the spring in her step. All he noticed was that she was running toward him. His heart caught in his throat. She's actually happy to see me! This could work!

Butterflies filled his stomach as she quickly closed the distance between them. He was so focused on trying to organize his thoughts that he missed her run right past him.

"Kaiba!" Tristan spun around and nearly choked. Serenity was hanging from Kaiba's neck.

The CEO was pushing her off and trying to back away, "Get off me!"

As a crowd gathered around Kaiba and Serenity, Tristan slipped up the hallway. He had a sinking feeling he knew what he would find, and luckily didn't have to go far. Just around the corner, the half-eaten brownie lay on the ground.

"Joey is going to kill me."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Outside of the standard "I don't own these characters", I really don't know what to tell you guys this time. Tristan made a mistake, and now he has to live with the consequences.

The next few days were among the worst in Tristan's life. As soon as he got back to his locker, he dumped the remaining brownies in the nearest trashcan and headed home as quickly as he could.

It wasn't the end of his woes, though. He'd never realized how often his schedule forced him to cross Kaiba's path. Now he was seeing more of Serenity than he had when they were running through the virtual world together. After two days of watching her repeatedly throw herself at Kaiba, who actively side-stepped her attempts, Tristan started looking for alternate routes between his classes.

By the end of the second day, Tristan was leaving class early, hiding in the restroom, and arriving to his next class late. The P.E. instructor gave him laps for it, but he didn't care. He was sick of constantly being reminded of his mistake.

* * *

The next morning, Tristan was pacing the length of the boys' restroom praying that the effects of the brownie would wear off soon. Hardly anyone came into this out-of-the-way restroom, so he was startled by the warm, youthful voice behind him.

"Oh, hey, Tristan. I didn't expect to run into you." Yugi's carefree smile made Tristan hate what he'd done even more. Yugi had been in love with Teá longer than Tristan had known either of them, and still waited patiently for Teá to notice him the way she had noticed the Pharaoh. For Yugi, Teá's friendship was more than enough.

As he forced a half-hearted smile to his face and started fumbling for a response, he hated himself for not being more like his friend. If he really cared, he wouldn't have tried to put any sort of spell on Serenity. He'd have been the best friend he could and waited patiently for her to notice him.

"Tristan?" Yugi was looking at him, concern etched in his face. _Please don't look at me like that, Yugi. I don't deserve it._ "Tristan, are you all right?"

"Yeah, sure." Yugi didn't look convinced. "I'm just nervous about my history test."

"But...we took that last week." The bell rang, sending the pair running.

* * *

Lunch was worse than passing periods. Kaiba always sat as far from the student body as possible, and always where he could see Yugi. The bitter duelist was always looking for an opening to challenge his rival.

But Kaiba's choice of seating left him very visible, and now Serenity was sharing Kaiba's spotlight. The entire school had a front row seat to Joey Wheeler's baby sister throwing herself relentlessly at the upperclassman.

At their table, though, Joey was threatening to create a scene of his own. "I ought to march over there and give Kaiba a piece of my mind!"

"If she's happy, maybe you should just let her be," Yugi counseled.

"Happy? I don't know how she feels! She hasn't been actin' like herself lately!"

Tristan looked away from his enraged best friend. It left him looking at the girl of his dreams, beyond his reach because of his own stupidity. He quickly excused himself from his friends.

* * *

He left the school grounds with one thought in his head: restoring Serenity's free will.

He found the bookstore quickly enough. The shopkeeper greeted him, but Tristan didn't give him a chance to say anything else.

"How do I stop the spell?"

The man smiled, a little too patiently for Tristan's frayed nerves. "Things not going the way you expected?" Tristan shook his head. "Love is too precious to be manipulated."

"You could have mentioned that before you directed me to the books with love spells in them," Tristan growled in frustration.

"Love spells?" The little old man looked confused. "I thought you were looking for the comic books." Tristan just about lost his temper.

The man wandered behind the counter, "The problem with love spells, or any spell that takes away someone's free will, is that you have to let them run their course."

"Great! How long will that take?"

"It depends," the man shrugged. "But it will wear off. She'll remember, though, and she may not be happy with you."

"After this, I'll deserve it." Tristan thanked the man and returned to school just in time to be late to P.E. While everyone else played crab soccer, Tristan straightened the equipment room.

* * *

A week had passed since he'd given Serenity the brownie, and he was about to go out of his mind. Every time he turned around, he was treated to another reminder that he was an idiot.

They all played out the same. Serenity would boldly walk up to Kaiba and give him some token of her admiration. Kaiba would toss the gift without further acknowledgment. Joey would invariably see the scene and explode.

As the week wore on, Kaiba started side-stepping both Wheelers. Any of Serenity's gifts that did find their way into the CEO's possession were promptly trashed, usually right in front of her. It didn't seem to deter her at all.

As Kaiba callously dumped an entire plate of heart-shaped cookies, Joey jumped up in his face. "Kaiba, what have you done to my sister?"

"I suggest you ask her, Wheeler. She's the one throwing herself at me." Kaiba turned to walk off. "Perhaps you should tell her I don't date mutts."

A guttural scream tore from Joey's throat. If he'd been able to move, Tristan knew Joey would have killed Kaiba. But he wasn't going anywhere so long as Tristan restrained him.

"Let me go, Tristan! I'll kill that good-for-nothing!"

"You can't, Joey." Tristan fought to keep his voice calm.

"Why not?"

"Because Kaiba didn't do anything to Serenity." Tristan slowly released his best friend. "I did."

There was a long moment of silence.

"Tristan!" Joey's bellow shook the school's walls. "What did you do? How did you make my sister fall for Moneybags?"

"Funny story, actually," Tristan scratched the back of his head, "Kaiba was in the wrong place at the wrong time." Joey wasn't amused. "Look, Joe. I really like Serenity, but you won't let me ask her out. I tried to get her to ask me out like Yugi suggested, but it never worked out."

The anger was slowly melting off Joey's face. Tristan bit his lip and continued his confession. "For her birthday, I made her brownies with a love potion baked into them." A small fire ignited behind Joey's eyes, but Tristan knew he had to finish. "She ate part of one, but saw Kaiba before she saw me."

Silence hung between them again, Tristan nervously waiting for a response. He watched Joey's emotions parade across his face, and thanked whatever higher power that his best friend wasn't screaming at him.

"I guess she could do a lot worse than you," Joey decided, "but this was the worst way to go about catching her attention." Tristan nodded. "Once she's over this Kaiba business, she's going to kill you."

"I know." _That's the one thing I'm sure about._ "She's going to hate me."

"Serenity learned compassion from having me as her big brother, so she won't hate you. She'll just be angry with you for a long time."

"I won't blame her."


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it. The end. This chapter is really short, but I couldn't let things go without letting Serenity have her say. Thanks for checking it out!
> 
> As usual, I am not Takahashi-sensei. I just like to over-analyze his characters!

Tristan skipped lunch the next day to sit under a tree. The cold wind tried to re-style his hair, but it didn't faze him. Anything had to be better than sitting with Joey while watching Kaiba try to evade Serenity.

"There you are!" It was the last person he expected to see. "I've been looking for you."

Why is it no one wants to drag us off to save the world when I need a rescue? He stared at the ground, waiting for the infamous Wheeler temper to explode.

"Joey told me what happened." Serenity sat down next to him. "I can't believe I spent a week throwing myself at Kaiba. He must really hate my family now."

"Then he's a fool," Tristan muttered.

"How could you do that to me, Tristan? I liked you." He flinched at her use of the past tense. "Why didn't you just tell me?"

Because Joey would kill me. This was worse than if she had yelled at him. "I didn't know you liked me, and I wouldn't have been able to take it if you didn't."

For the first time since she sat down, he looked her straight in the eye. "I like you, Serenity." She blushed. "Can you forgive me for being a jerk?"

"I don't know, Tristan. It's going to take some time. You did make me chase Kaiba, after all." Her mischievous grin gave him hope.

"I didn't mean for that to happen."

Her grin slowly widened, "I know. Yugi told me." She stood up and brushed herself off. "I guess I'll see you later." He stood as she left.

"Tristan?" She never turned around.

"Yeah?" His voice caught in his throat.

"The aquarium... You were trying to ask me out, weren't you?"

He gulped, "Um...yeah..."

She was silent for a long moment. "Maybe we could meet at the arcade Sunday afternoon?"

"I'd like that." He jumped around victoriously as she walked off.


End file.
